With the fifth wave of the COVID-19 outbreak raging through Hong Kong, the city’s anti-pandemic battle has never been tougher since the coronavirus struck two years ago. The top priority for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government now is to launch an all-out campaign to neutralize this health threat, demonstrating its proactivity in taking up the primary responsibility of overcoming the pandemic in the region. Manpower and resources from all departments in the government shall be mobilized to carry out initiatives to cut down severe cases and the mortality rate. All civil servants should have the courage and sense of responsibility to take on arduous tasks, as spelled out in their oath of office, to ensure the health and safety of Hong Kong residents.
The central government has been proactively responding to Hong Kong’s need for help, especially after the omicron outbreak morphed into a full-blown health crisis, sending leading health experts and medical personnel from the mainland to beef up the city’s anti-pandemic capacities. In response to the call of the central government, Chinese enterprises and individuals have also donated and dispatched batches of medical supplies and other resources to the local community, and made an orchestrated effort to facilitate the construction of temporary isolation and treatment facilities. Many others have also made substantial contributions to ensure an uninterrupted supply of fresh foods and anti-pandemic resources to Hong Kong.
It takes confidence, perseverance and solidarity to win the uphill battle against the virus. As long as we work together and pull our weight to support the SAR government on all anti-pandemic fronts, Hong Kong will eventually ride out the storm, as the mainland has
To turn the tide in the battle against the virus, it is imperative that the SAR government optimizes its leadership structure in executing anti-pandemic initiatives and makes good use of the mainland support and resources. Professor Liang Wannian, head of the National Health Commission’s COVID-19 leading task force, earlier emphasized the importance and urgency of strengthening the coordination of government departments in response to the emergency situation; and a global pandemic of this scale would, as Liang opined, require an all-around implementation plan and a specific timetable for all anti-pandemic initiatives. Liang is a top-brass epidemiologist on the mainland who has been assigned to aid Hong Kong in its pandemic fight; the SAR government should capitalize on his valuable and rich experience and expertise, as well as other mainland health experts’, in reining in the virus.
The SAR government should also, after taking into consideration the actual situation in Hong Kong, facilitate the full participation of mainland specialists in the whole anti-pandemic process, including the command structure, decision-making and execution, for the sake of optimal cooperation and interaction with local officials and experts.
Moreover, as more and more temporary isolation and treatment facilities are being built, the SAR government should speed up the allocation process to ensure they are put into full service as quickly as possible. The administration should strive to enhance administrative efficiency in meeting the needs of the public and ensure nobody in need of help is left out.
To combat the virus in a methodical and scientific way, it is necessary to group and isolate patients according to the severity of their conditions, and focus on treating those with heavy symptoms. Zhang Boli, an academician from the Chinese Academy of Engineering and head of the Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, urged Hong Kong authorities to prioritize effective isolation measures and focus on curing the severely ill patients. Taking a leaf out of the book of the mainland, Zhang indicated that only by gathering manpower and resources to treat the more-severe group can we reduce the mortality rate.
To reduce the death rate, Vice-Premier Han Zheng has pointed out the need to prioritize the protection of the elderly and young children, the two most vulnerable groups. Nursing homes for the elderly are the hardest-hit in the fifth wave of the outbreak, registering the highest number of infections and deaths. The SAR government ought to proactively assist them in coming up with effective anti-pandemic measures, such as recruiting more caregivers, strengthening protective measures, and boosting the vaccination rate among the elderly residents.
Galvanizing the public should be part of the effort to repel the health threat. To this end, the SAR government should optimize its public communication strategies. For instance, no announcement should be made on policies that have yet to be finalized; official announcements should be made on dedicated channels, using consistent language when it tries to get the message across, etc. These serve the purpose of avoiding miscommunications and misunderstandings, which breed rumors and misinformation that are bound to undermine public confidence, eventually plunging the society into chaos.
In the wake of the skyrocketing daily infections, the Hong Kong Coalition has, under the leadership of its two chief conveners, secretary-general and deputy secretaries-general, donated funds and rallied support of community groups to supplement the anti-pandemic work of the SAR government. Thanks to the overwhelming response and generous offers from all sectors of the community, we have successfully amassed medical supplies in abundance, including 710,000 rapid testing kits, 340,000 face shields for adults, 70,000 face shields for children, 170,000 sets of protective clothing, 1.25 million surgical masks, 125,000 N95 masks, 51,000 packs of botanical capsules, 500 blood oxygen meters, and boxes of hypoallergenic gloves and hand sanitizers. Starting from Feb 20, these medical supplies have been disseminated to frontline staff in hospitals, nursing homes for the elderly, makeshift hospitals and isolation centers, as well as cleaners, security guards, children, ethnic minorities and people in need.
It takes confidence, perseverance and solidarity to win the uphill battle against the virus. As long as we work together and pull our weight to support the SAR government on all anti-pandemic fronts, Hong Kong will eventually ride out the storm as has the mainland, and look forward to brighter development prospects along with our motherland.
The author is a member of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.